Surveys Say Businesses Not Worried By Casinos

Executives Polled In, Out Of State

Surveys Say Casinos Don't Influence Decisions To Move

December 22, 1992|By HILARY WALDMAN; Courant Staff Writer

Despite warnings from Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. that casinos would make it more difficult for Connecticut to attract and keep "legitimate" businesses, two new surveys indicate that casinos would have little effect on a company's decision to move or stay here.

The surveys, commissioned by the state Department of Economic Development, were released Monday. Robert Santy, a deputy economic development commissioner, called the results inconclusive.

One survey assessed the attitudes of Connecticut executives by polling 275 business leaders by phone from Dec. 14 to 17. The poll, by the Institute for Social Inquiry at the University of Connecticut, showed that 75 percent of executives said a casino in the state would have little effect on their efforts to attract and retain qualified workers.

Of those polled, 57 percent said a casino would improve the state economy; 18 percent said a casino would make the economy worse; and 23 percent said it would not make much difference.

At the same time, 45 percent of executives said the quality of life would be worse if Connecticut allowed casinos; 20 percent said it would be better; and 35 percent said it would not make much difference. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 7 percentage points.

The second survey, by Smith and Co. marketing consultants of Shelton, was part of the Department of Economic Development's broader, ongoing assessment of Connecticut's efforts to persuade businesses from elsewhere to move to the state.

In many ways, the answers mirrored those of the instate executives, with 70 percent of out-ofstate business leaders saying the presence of casino gambling would have no effect on a decision to relocate. Only one executive in every 10 said gambling would make a state "less attractive."

The results were based on interviews with 192 top corporate officials who are in positions to make or influence relocation

decisions. The interviews were conducted from Dec. 11 to 15.

"The introduction of casino gambling in the State of Connecticut, at least on a limited scale, does not appear to have created, nor would it create, a significant disadvantage for the state in competing for new businesses," the study concluded